Development by Zwarts & Jansma in The Netherlands

Design for the new Dutch high voltage pylons

Design: Zwarts & Jansma Architects

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Amsterdam, 8 October 2009. The High Voltage Pylon Wintrack, designed by Dutch architectural practice Zwarts & Jansma Architects, is minimalist in every sense of the word. Dominance of the landscape, electromagnetic radiation, maintenance, and climbability have all been reduced significantly.

“We tried to design the pylon away”, says Rein Jansma of Zwarts & Jansma Architects. “With his round, straight, tapered shape the Wintrack does not attract attention. Above all he reduces landscape disfigurement because of his integral design.”

Not only the design, also the technique is highly advanced. “Thanks to the close collaboration with Kema’s technicians we could make use of physical laws to improve the design and to minimalise the impact on the environment”, says Jansma. The fact that the nets are run double has a positive effect on the size of the magnetic field which, compared to conventional high voltage lines, is much smaller. This opens up more possibilities for its incorporation into the landscape.

TenneT, the Dutch transmission system operator, is working on the extension of the high voltage grid. Thanks to the compact layout of the line the need to increase the capacity can be more easily realised in the densely populated Netherlands. The Wintrack will first be used for the new high voltage line crossing the central part of the Netherlands, the Randstad. The first pylons will be placed north of Rotterdam in the first half of 2010.